1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a predictive robot which provides predictive information through acquisition of prediction terms from information contained in a user's conscious marking activities, such as video recording or selection of TV programs, without awareness on the part of the user. A feature of the invention is that the prediction terms are acquired through natural operation as a part of communication, such as starting a dialog mode or replacement of a fuel cell cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of robots have been developed, including bipedal walking robots, entertainment robots that resemble animals, multilingual robots, house-sitting robots, and personal authentication robots making use of voice recognition and facial images.
These robots execute actions in response to voice commands from a person. More specifically, each of the above-listed robots executes actions, which have been previously performed in accordance with pre-programmed commands with use of a remote controller or a PC, by the user talking to the robot and voice recognition. Methods of determining whether or not the user has talked to the robot include a method of detecting a sound which does not continue for a specific length of time (e.g., hand clapping) (see, e.g., JP2001-154692 (kokai) ([0070], FIG. 7)).
However, in practical daily living, a user would like to be provided with local information before becoming aware of it by other means, such as information that the laundry needs to be taken in because the weather has suddenly become cloudy and rain seems imminent, or information that a meal needs to be prepared because a family member is on the way home from a train or bus station, in a predictive manner rather than by the user issuing commands.
Such provision of predictive information constitutes information provision of push-type rather than information provision of pull-type, such as conventional information retrieval by use of the Internet. In many cases, such push-type information is provided in the form of e-mail delivered to a PC or a cell phone. In robots of the related art, e-mail is vocally read in response to a command issued by an owner user of the robot.
Some robots connect themselves to a network and provide information upon acceptance of a query from a user about weather, or the like, however, such robots provide information in response to predetermined keywords or keywords supplied by the user. Accordingly, content of provided information lacks variety, which poses a problem. To this end, there is a service such that, a user who has purchased goods via Internet shopping is provided with information on the nature of other goods purchased by other users who have purchased the same goods (recommendation engine).
However, the above-mentioned services are provided on the basis of a person's intended action, and cannot cope with a problem of the inability to provide information without prompting by the user, such as information that, the laundry needs to be taken in because an atmospheric low-pressure system is approaching and is likely to bring rain.
Meanwhile, some TV programs display uniform resource locators (URLs) of, for instance, an advertisement or a homepage related to an on-air program. To access the advertisement or homepage, a viewer must write down the URL and directly input the same to a browser. Alternatively, a URL is electronically provided by an electronic program guide (EPG) which is provided in conjunction with digitization of TV broadcasting. However, the URLs are provided solely on a per-program basis. Storage of a link to URLs of athletes or actors/actresses who appear in broadcast programs or periodic acquisition of new information cannot be carried out.
As described above, there has not been developed a robot which voluntarily provides push-type information, such as a weather forecast, notification that a family member is on the way home, or information reported as a news flash, e.g., information about an earthquake, or information about traffic congestion due to a train accident. Accordingly, there are many situations such that laundry has already become wet with rain by the time a user notices that it is raining. To this end, demand exists for a framework which allows a robot to spontaneously provide information obtained through the network, such as a change in the weather or the imminent arrival of a family member. Furthermore, there are required measures for acquiring prediction terms for use in spontaneous provision of predictive information without invoking the user's awareness.